i/««ARy 

UNIVEWITVofiUl.o,, 

URSANA 

ADDRESS, 

RESOLUTIONS  & PROCEEDINGS 

OP  TH* 


HELD  AT 

TRENTON,  N.  J.,  JAN.  22d,  1868, 


TO  OT*3E»OS1S3 


The  Extension  of  the  Monopoly  Privileges 

OP  THE 


Camden  & Amboy  Railroad  Co. 

And  to  Secure  the  Passage  of  a General 
Railroad  Law. 


In  a letter  from  President  Johnson,  expressing  his  views 
upon  the  subject  of  monopolies,  he  refers  to  parts  of  his  An- 
nual Message  to  first  Session,  39th  Congress,  on  pages  15  and 
16,  as  follows : 

“ Our  Government  springs  from  and  was  made  for  the  peo- 
ple— not  the  people  for  the  Government.  To  them  it  owes 
allegiance ; from  them  it  must  derive  its  courage,  strength 
and  wisdom.  But,  while  the  government  is  thus  hound  to 
defer  to  the  people,  from  whom  it  derives  its  existence,  it 
should,  from  the  very  consideration  of  its  origin,  he  strong  in 
its  power  of  resistance  to  the  establishment  of  inequalities. 
Monopolies,  perpetuities,  and  class  legislation  are  contrary  to 
the  genius  of  free  government,  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed. 
Here,  there  is  no  room  for  favored  classes  or  monopolies;  the 
principle  of  our  Government  is  that  of  equal  laws  and  free- 
dom of  industry.  Wherever  monopoly  attains  a foothold,  it 
it  is  sure  to  be  a source  of  danger,  discord  and  trouble.  We 
shall  but  fulfil  our  duties  as  legislators  by  according  “ equal 
and  exact  justice  to  all  men,”  special  privileges  to  none.  The 
Government  is  subordinate  to  the  people ; but  as  the  agent 
and  representative  of  the  people,  it  must  be  held  superior  to 
monopolies,  which,  in  themselves,  ought  never  to  be  granted, 
and  which,  where  they  exist,  must  be  subordinate  and  yield  to 
the  Government. 

The  Constitution  confers  on  Consjress  the.  right  to  regulate 
commerce  among  the  several  States.  It  is  of  the  first  neces- 
sity, for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  that  that  commerce 
should  be  free  and  unobstructed.  No  State  can  be  justified  in 
any  device  to  tax  the  transit  of  travel  and  commerce  between 
States.  The  position  of  many  States  is  such  that,  if  they  were 
allowed  to  take  advantage  of  it  for  purposes  of  local  revenue, 
the  commerce  between  States  might  be  injuriously  burdened, 
or  even  virtually  prohibited.  It  is  best,  while  the  country  is 
still  young,  and  while  the  tendency  of  dangerous  monopolies 
of  this  kind  is  still  feeble,  to  use  the  power  of  Congress  so  as 
to  prevent  any  selfish  impediment  to  the  free  circulation  of 
men  and  merchandise.  A tax  on  travel  and  merchandise,  in 
their  transit,  constitutes  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  monopoly, 
and  the  evil  is  increased  if  coupled  with  a denial  of  the  choice 
of  route.  When  the  vast  extent  of  our  country  is  considered, 
it  is  plain  that  every  obstacle  to  the  free  circulation  of  com- 
merce between  the  States  ought  to  be  sternly  guarded  against 
by  appropriate  legislation,  within  the  limits  of  the  Constitu- 
tion.” 


Proceedings  of  the  Conventioa 


Pursuant  to  a call,  issued  by  citizens  representing  most  of  the 
Counties  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  to  form  an  anti-Monopoly 
Organization,  delegates  representing  all  sections  of  the  State 
met  at  Taylor’s  Hall  in  the  City  of  Trenton,  January  22,  1868. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Rowland  Johnson,  of 
Essex.  On  motion.  Dr.  Thos.  G.  Chattle,  of  Monmouth,  took 
the  Chair,  and  Mr.  G.  W.  Hancock,  of  Camden,  was  appointed 
Secretary. 

The  call  for  the  meeting  was  then  read,  after  which  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Petrie,  of  Ocean,  opened  the  proceedings  with  prayer.  * 

On  motion,  it  was  then  resolved,  that  a Committee  of  seven 
be  appointed  on  permanent  organization,  whereupon,  the  chair 
appointife  the  following : 

S.  B.  Nichols,  of  Atlantic  County, 

John  A.  Morford,  of  Monmouth, 

Robert  Campbell,  of  Ocean, 

WooLMAN  Stokes,  of  Monmouth, 

Wm.  Parry,  of  Burlington, 

' R.  J.  Byrnes,  of  Atlantic, 

Geo.  W.  Hancock,  of  Camden. 

On  motion,  it  was  also  resolved,  that  a Committee  of  five  be 
appointed  to  report  an  Address.  The  following  named  gentle- 
men were  appointed  by  the  chairman  : S.  B.  Nichols,  Robert 
Campbell,  Rowland  Johnson,  F.  B.  Chetwood,  John  A.  Morford. 

On  motion,  it,  was  resolved,  that  the  chair  appoint  five  gentle- 
men to  prepare  resolutions,  and  the  following  were  appointed: 
Dr.  I.  P.  Trimble,  John  Buckingham, 

John  Torrey,  Jr.,  Wm.  Parry, 

A.  S.  Meyrick. 

Mr.  Potts,  of  Morris,  was  then  introduced,  and  addressed 
the  meeting. 


4 


The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization,  returning,  re- 
ported in  favor  of  the  following  officers  of  the  Convention, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

For  President,  Dr.  James  H.  Patterson,  of  Shrewsbury, 
Monmouth  Co. 

FOB  vice-presidents: 

A.  P.  Stanton,  Ocean  County, 

Woodman  Stokes,  Monmouth  County, 

Wm.  Parry,  Burlington  “ 

R.  J.  Byrnes,  Atlantic  “ 

James  A.  Yates,  Mercer 
Robert  M.  Hening,  Essex  “ 

’ J.  M.  Hannah,  Salem  “ 

Enos  W.  Runyon,  Union  “ 

Charles  Wehle,  Hudson  “ 

John  Rutherford,  Sussex  “ • 

Chas.  B.  Moore,  Somerset  “ 

E.  A.  Stansbury,  Passaic  “ 

Joseph  C.  Potts,  Morris  “ 

A.  S.  Meyrick,  Middlesex  “ 

David  S.  Brown,  Camden  “ 

W.  D.  Cook,  Cumberland  “ 

FOR  secretaries  : 

W.  S.  Eaton,  Monmouth  County, 

H.  L.  Bonsall,  Camden  “ 

Z.  K.'Pangborn,  Hudson  County, 

B.  C.  Potts,  Morris  “ 

Patrick  Clark,  Union  “ 

A resolution  was  adopted,  that  all  the  officers  elected,  be 
considered  pledged  when  taking  their  seats,  to  carry  out  the 
purposes  contained  in  the  call  for  this  Convention. 

Addresses  were  made  by  Rowland  Johnson,  of  Essex,  ad 
Mr.  Clark,  of  Union  County. 

After  which  meeting  adjourned  to  2 p.ivl 

GEO.  W.  HANCOCK,  Secretary. 


5 


On  re-assembling  at  2 p.m.,  the  meeting  was  presided  over 
by  the  temporary  chairman,  Dr.  Thos.  G.  Chattle,  of  Monmouth 
Co.,  while  the  Committee  waiting  upon  Dr.  J.  H.  Patterson, 
President  elect  were  absent,  the  gentlemen  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dents and  the  Secretaries  took  their  seats. 

After  which,  the  temporary  chairman  retiring.  Dr.  Jas.  H. 
Patterson,  of  Shrewsbury,  Monmouth  Co.,  took  the  chair, 
thanking  the  Convention  for  the  honor  of  being  called  to  pre- 
side over  their  deliberations,  and  identifying  himself  with 
this  movement,  as  one  where  the  honor  and  good  name  of 
the  State  of  New  Jersey  were  most  vitally  concerned. 

The  Address  and  Resolutions  were  reported  by  Committee, 
read,  and  on  motion,  unanimously  adopted.  • 

Short  addresses  were  made  by  Hon.  John  A.  Morford  and 
Francis  Leonard,  of  Monmouth,  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  a 
General  Railroad  Law,  whereby  the  State  should  be  opened  to 
competition  in  Railways,  and  lower  fares  and  freights  prevail. 

Dr.  Isaac  P.  Trimble,  of  Essex,  offered  the  following  reso- 
lution, which  on  motion  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  that  the  recent  attempt  by  certain  monopoly 
managers  to  get  possession  of  the  Newark  and  New  York 
Railroad,  first  by  offers  of  enormous  bribes  to  corrupt  a ma- 
jority of  the  directors,  and  then  by  fraud  to  procure  a con- 
trolling amount  of  the  stock,  shows  unmistakably  that  Camden 
and  Amboy  does  not  yet  intend  that  railroads  shall  be  made 
in  any  part  of  New  Jersey,  in  opposition  to  their  wishes. 

Dr.  Trimble  spoke  in  connection  with  this  resolution  of  the 
enormous  amounts  offered  to  bribe  these  gentlemen,  prominent 
among  whom  was  the  President  of  the  road,  who  was  named 
as  having  refused  |100,000  ; also  of  $66,000  being  refused  by 
one  of  the  directors  for  a similar  purpose. 

Other  gentlemen  followed,  Mr.  Butterworth,  of  Trenton, 
making  the  following  statement  of  exorbitant  freight  charges 


6 


of  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  Company.  He  held  in  his  hand 
a freight  bill  just  paid  to  that  Company,  for  freight  on  wool 
from  Philadelphia  to  Trenton,  and  comparing  with  rates  of 
freight  from  Chicago,  the  charges  were  seven  times  in  excess. 

Rowland  Johnson  stated,  that  the  Camden  and  Amboy  Com- 
pany spent  $200,000  to  elect  the  present  legislature. 

Remarks  were  made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Given,  Chaplain,  in  the 
U.  S.  Navy;  Major  Z.  K.  Pangborn,  of  Hudson;  Jas.  M. 
Scovel,  of  Camden,  and  Major  Geo.  B.  Halsted,  of  Essex. 

Letters  from  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  Horace  Greeley  and 
others  were  read,  sympathizing  with  the  objects  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

The  President  of  the  Convention  stated,  that  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment  ^he  would,  in  accordance  with  the  re- 
solution adopted,  appoint  State  Executive  Committee.  Motion 
to  print  10,000  copies  of  address  and  resolutions,  was  referred 
to  said  Executive  Committee  for  their  action. 

John  Torrey,  Jr.,  of  Ocean  Co.,  olfered  resolutions  with 
reference  to  the  formation  of  the  New  Jersey  Free  Railroad 
Club,  which  on  motion  were  referred  to  Executive  Committee, 
with  power. 

The  subject  of  establishing  an  organ  for  the  dissemination 
of  anti-monopoly  views,  was  also  referred  to  Executive  Com- 
mittee. The  Convention  was  characterized  throughout  by  the 
utmost  enthusiasm,  being  a movement  of  the  people  for  the 
protection  of  their  own  reserved  and  most  sacred  rights. 

Adjourned  subject  to  the  call  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

WM.  S.  EATON,  Secretary. 

Taylor’s  Hall,  Trenton,  ) 

January,  22,  1868.  ) 


To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey. 

Felloic  Citizens: 

In  the  year  1830,  your  representatives  in  the  legislature 
passed  two  laws : one  incorporating  the  Camden  and  Amboy 
Railroad  and  Transportation  Company,  with  a capital  of  a 
million  and  a half  of  dollars,  and  the  other  incorporating  the 
Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal  Company,  with  a like  amount  of 
capital.  These  two  at  the  time  of  their  passage,  were  rival 
schemes.  N either  of  them  had  the  approbation,  standing 
alone,  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  and 
they  only  became  laAvs  by  a bargain  entered  into  between 
their  respective  supporters  by  which  the  bills  were  log-rolled 
through  both  houses,  and,  as  the  record  shows,  were  passed, 
one  immediately  following  the  other.  The  respective  corpora- 
tions, having  been  organized  under  these  laws,  became  antago- 
nistic to  each  other.  The  Canal  Company  striving  to  add 
railroad  privileges  to  the  powers  it  already  possessed,  and  the 
Railroad  Company  with  equal  effort  striving  to  prevent  the 
bestowal  of  such  powers.  After  repeated  conflicts  in  the  halls 
of  the  Legislature,  their  rivalry  was  brought  to  a termination 
in  1831  by  the  passage  of  what  was  called  “the  Marriage 
Act,”  whereby  the  two  companies  were  consolidated  into  an 
organization  known  as  “the  Joint  Companies,”  and  their 
several  interests  made  mutual.  This  consolidation  of  interest 
made  them,  by  far,  the  most  powerful  corporate  body  in  the 
State,  and  gave  to  them  an  influence  from  that  hour  which  has 
proved,  by  all  subsequent  experience,  to  be  irresistible.  They 
signalized  the  development  of  this  power  by  demanding  and 
obtaining  from  the  Legislature  in  the  very  next  year,  that 
derogatory  and  injurious  grant  known  by  the  name  of  “ the 
Monopoly  Privileges.'*^ 


8 


By  this  grant,  for  the  paltry  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  payable  in  the  stock  of  the  companies,  accompanied  with 
a guaranty  that  the  transit  duties  reserved  to  the  State  and  the 
dividends  upon  the  stock  thus  donated  should  at  no  time  be 
less  than  thirty  thousand  dollars  ($30,000),  the  Legislature  con- 
ferred upon  these  companies  the  exclusive  right  to  carry  pas- 
sengers and  merchandise  between  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  by  railroad,  and  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  it 
should  not  be  lawful  at  any  time  thereafter  for  the  State  her- 
self to  authorize  any  other  railroad  to  compete  in  business  with 
these  companies  without  having  first  obtained  their  consent  so 
to  do. 

Looking  back  at  these  grants  through  the  light  of  more  than 
thirty  (30)  years’  experience,  the  transaction  seems  most  mar- 
velous. That  the  Legislature  of  a State  lying  between  the 
great  markets  of  the  Western  Continent,  having  a knowledge 
of  the  value  of  unrestricted  transpoitation  of  all  the  products 
of  her  citizens  to  these  markets,  how  entirely  the  value  of  every 
species  of  manufacture  or  merchandise  within  heYborders  must 
depend  upon  the  rapidity,  ease  and  cheapness  of  such  transpor- 
tation, should  place  the  key  of  every  man’s  prosperity  in  the 
hands  of  a soulless  corporation,  with  almost  unlimited  power 
to  tax  him  according  to  its  own  selfish  dictates,  is  wonderful 
indeed.  But  it  is  still  more  wonderful  that  the  representatives 
of  a free  and  sovereign  State  should  voluntarily  consent  to 
abdicate  their  own  sovereignty  in  a matter  of  such^vast  im- 
portance to  their  entire  constituencies,  and  place  shackles' upon 
the  law-making  power  only  to  be  removed  by  the  consent  of 
the  corporate  creature  they  had  made..  Yet  such  is  the  spec- 
tacle, and  gazing  upon  it,  we  cannot  doubt  the  truth  of  those 
traditions  which  have  come  down  to  us  respecting  the  insidious 
means  which  ivere  used  to  accomplish  this  end. 

By  the  charter  of  the  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  Com- 


9 


pany,  the  State  reserved  the  right  to  purchase  the  works 
and  all  the  equipment  at  the  end  of  thirty  (30)  years  from  the 
completion  of  the  road,  at  its  appraised  value,  not  to  exceed 
cost ; and  in  the  charter  of  the  Canal  Company,  the  right  was 
reserved  to  purchase  it  at  the  expiration  of  fifty  (50)  years. 
Aside  from  these  reservations,  the  two  charters  were  perpetual 
and  by  the  terms  of  the  Monopoly  Grant,  it  also  would  be 
perpetual  unless  the  State  should  purchase. 

In  1854,  the  sterling  bonds  of  the  Joint  Companies,  being 
about  to  mature,  the  companies  desired  to  renew  the  loan. 
They  were  met  by  the  bond-holders  with  the  objection  that  in 
sixteen  years  the  right  of  the  State  to  purchase  the  road  would 
mature,  and  a loan  extending  beyond  that  time  might  lead  to 
undesirable  entanglements.  To  meet  this  objection,  the  Joint 
Companies  again  applied  to  the  Legislature,  asking  that  the 
time  at  which  the  State  might  exercise  the  privilege  of  taking 
the  railroad  upon  an  appraisement  should  be  extended  until 
the  year  1888,  and  fixed  the  same  year  as  the  time  when  the 
right  to  take  the  canal  should  mature.  The  business  of  the 
companies  had,  down  to  this  date,  proved  immensely  produc- 
tive. Their  regular  annual  dividends  were  twelve  per  cent 
Their  extra  dividends  averaged  four  per  cent.^  making  some 
sixteen  per  cent. ^ with  a business  largely  on  the  increase.  It  is 
plain  to  every  intelligent  mind,  that  such  a road,  if  built  with- 
out wasteful  extravagance,  must  be  worth  more  than  double 
what  it  cost,  and  yet  the  State  had  the  right  to  take  it  at  sim- 
ple cost.  ISTo  man  can  doubt  that  the  right  to  take  the  road, 
when  it  should  mature  in  1868,  would  be  worth  in  the  market 
at  least  four  million  dollars  ($4,000,000)  more  than  cost.  Yet 
we  see  these  companies,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  power,  ex- 
torting from  the  Legislature  a postponement  of  this  valuable 
right  for  twenty  years,  without  one  dollar  of  compensation  or 
of  equivalent  of  any  kind.  A right  worth  this  vast  sum  is 


10 


boldly  taken  by  this  giant  corporation  from  the  people  of  !N'ew 
Jersey  without  consulting  them,  and  applied  exclusively  to  its 
own  benefit.  We  venture  to  say  that  the  legislation  of  no 
State  in  this  Union  presents  a parallel  to  this. 

In  postponing  the  right  of  the  State  to  purchase  the  works 
at  cost  until  1888,  the  Legislature,  however,  stipulated  that 
the  Monopoly  Grant  should  be  no  further  extended,  and  that 
it  should  expire  by  its  own  limitation  on  the  31st  of  December 
of  this  current  year.  Its  existence  is,  therefore,  now  limited, 
not  by  years  but  by  months.  It  will  speedily  pass  away  and 
be  among  the  things  which  literally  belong  to  the  barbarous 
ages.  As  its  existence  draws  to  a close,  it  is  important  for  the 
people  of  New  Jersey  to  realize  that  with  its  termination  will 
dawn  a new  era  in  the  progress  of  the  State. 

The  policy  pursued  by  the  monopoly  during  all  the  years  of 
its  existence  has  been  one  of  eminent  selfishness.  It  has  re- 
garded itself  as  the  despot,  and  the  people  as  its  victims.  It  has 
foregone  no  opportunity  to  press  heavily  upon  the  growth  and 
business  of  the  State,  when  by  so  doing  it  could  increase  its 
own  revenues.  It  first  projected  its  line  of  road  from  Amboy 
to  Bordentown  through  an  almost  barren  waste  of  country, 
without  a populous  city  or  village  upon  its  route,  showing  a 
total  disregard  for  the  wants  of  the  larger  communities.  It 
refused  to  build  a double  track,  although  its  way  was  literally 
clogged  with  freight,  until  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
held  over  it  the  rod  of  an  air  line.  It  has  distorted  the  natu- 
ral railroad  system  of  the  State  by  compelling  the  minor  roads 
to  become  its  tributaries.  In  its  charges  for  travel  and  transpor- 
tation it  greatly  exceeds  the  companies  of  any  other  State  in 
the  Union,  whose  roads  are  of  equal  cost  and  have  equal  facili- 
ties. Indeed  its  fares  will  average  nearly  one  hundred  per 
cent,  higher  than  many  of  the  best  conducted  roads  in  the 
country.  It  will  readily  be  perceived  that  its  impositions 


11 


upon  the  traveling  and  commercial  public  have  been  enormous. 
That  under  the  protection  of  its  monopoly  feature,  it  has  ex- 
tracted millions  of  dollars  from  the  community,  which  it  never 
earned  and  to  which,  under  enlightened  legislation,  it  could 
never  have  been  entitled.  With  these  enormous  gains,  thus 
wrung  from  the  pockets  of  the  community,  it  has  installed  a 
system  of  bribery  and  corruption  throughout  the  State,  be- 
ginning in  the  halls  of  the  Legislature  and  extending  through 
courts,  juries  and  the  press  to  the  very  ballot  boxes  themselves. 
Thus  it  has  made  the  people  pay  from  their  own  pockets  for 
the  very  poison  which  was  sapping  the  foundation  of  the  public 
health  and  destroying  the  vitality  of  the  Government. 

Its  negative  influence  has  been  equally  damaging  with  its 
positive  acts.  With  steady  purpose  it  has  refused  to  allow 
any  legislation  which  should  give  to  one-half  the  State,  and 
that  the  most  productive  half,  a ready  access  to  the  markets 
of  New  York.  West  Jersey  has  a soil,  a climate,  and  a body 
of  fertilizing  marls,  adapted  to  easy  tillage  and  capable  of  pro- 
ducing fruits  and  vegetables,  to  the  value  annually  of  millions 
of  dollars.  New  York  with  her  great  wealth  and  her  million 
of  inhabitants  demands  those  very  products.  Her  health  and 
comfort  require  them.  She  is  ready  to  pay  the  largest  price 
for  all  such  commodities  delivered  to  her  in  fresh  condition. 
Here  is  the  market  and  here  is  the  supply,  but  the  monopoly 
stands  as  a barier  between  them.  No  fruits,  no  vegetables, 
no  productions  of  the  farmer  of  West  Jersey  must  reach  the 
craving  market  of  New  York  unless  by  the  roundabout  process 
of  the  freight-clogged  roads  which  Camden  & Amboy  has  pro 
vided,  and  paying  into  its  treasury  at  least  double  charges. 
Thousands  of  baskets  of  valuable  fruit  annually  rot  unable  to 
reach  a market  in  time  ; and  while  Philadelphia  is  glutted  to 
overflow.  New  York  is  either  fed  with  stale  fruit  or  left  with 
a very  scanty  supply.  It  is  a fact  that  the  farmers  of  Dela- 


12 


ware,  Maryland,  and  even  some  parts  of  Virginia,  have  greater 
facilities  for  reaching  New  York  with  their  fruits  than  have  a 
large  portion  of  the  farmers  of  West  Jersey. 

The  effect  which  this  disastrous  monopoly  policy  has  had 
upon  the  population,  business  and  real  estate  interests  of  West 
Jersey  may  he  readily  conceived.  It  has  kept  emigration  from 
her  territory.  It  has  kept  down  the  price  of  her  lands.  It  has 
limited  her  productions  and  made  her  labor  but  half  remunera- 
tive. Her  villages  have  not  grown  like  those  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State.  Her  manufactories  are  small  in  their  de- 
velopment and  limited  in  their  operations.  Instead  of  being 
the  suburbs  and  garden  of  the  metropolis,  she  is  almost  like  a 
foreign  country,  distantly  removed  from  the  commerce  and  the 
market  of  the  great  city.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  value  of 
her  property  to-day  would  have  been  twenty  millions  of  dollars 
($20,000,000)  greater  than  it  is  if  the  miserably  selfish  policy 
of  Camden  & Amboy  had  never  existed ; and  the  State  at 
large  but  for  that  policy  would  to-day  have  had  a population 
of  a million. 

We  have  adverted  to  these  aspects  of  the  case  as  introduc- 
tory to  the  question  as  to  what  it  is  now  our  duty  to  do.  We 
see  what  have  been  the  evils  arising  out  of  this  monopoly 
legislation.  They  are  tremendous.  But  so  long  as  that  legis- 
lation was  regarded  as  binding,  there  seemed  to  be  no  remedy. 
This  evil  now  ceases  by  its  own  limitation.  Sore  as  has  been 
the  trial  the  people  have  kept  their  faith.  Although  doubting 
the  validity  of  the  contract,  they  have  not  attempted  to  break 
it.  They  have  patiently  bided  their  time  and  it  has  now 
arrived.  It  is  the  object  of  this  convention  from  which 
emanates  this  address  to  ask  of  our  fellow  citizens  throughout 
the  entire  State,  and  irrespective  of  every  political  party,  to 
unite  with  us  in  procuring  the  passage  of  a general  railroad 
law.  With  such  a law  upon  our  statute  book,  the  dormant 


13 


powers  of  the  State  will  spring  forth  into  activity.  Let  every 
county,  every  town,  that  has  the  business  to  support  a rail- 
road and  the  ability  ’to  build  it,  have  one.  Let  every  farmer 
have  the  readiest  access  to  the  best  market.  Give  to  every 
manufacturer  increased  facilities  for  obtaining  his  raw  material 
and  sending  to  market  his  products.^  Let  the  idle  marl-beds 
of  West  Jersey  be  actively  worked.  Her  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  idle  lands  be  enriched.  Emigrants  will  soon 
find  them.  Population  and  production  will  double  and  triple. 
Values  will  increase  -in  proportion,  until  under  this  policy  so 
productive  a section  as  West  Jersey  will  become  the  most 
prosperous  community  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York. 

Under  the  policy  of  a general  railroad  law,  the  people  of 
every  county  of  the  State  will  be  benefitted.  Every  Winter 
witnesses  some  forty  or  fifty  applications  to  the  Legislature 
for  railroad  charters.  They  succeed  or  fail,  not  so  much  accord- 
ing to  their  merits  as  to  the  log-rolling  skill  of  their  supporters. 
With  a general  law  every  railroad  needed  in  the  State  could 
be  built  when  wanted,  and  there  is  no  part  of  our  territory 
which  would  not  be  greatly  benefitted  thereby.  We  have 
only  to  look  at  the  adjoining  State  of  New  York  to  see  the 
advantages  of  such  a law.  Besides  the  numerous  roads,  rival 
in  character,  which  extend  from  the  Metropolis  through  the 
State,  every  city — we  might  almost  say  every  village — has 
acquired,  under  the  general  law  of  that  State,  its  railroad  facil- 
ities. Instead  of  paying /owr  cents  per  mile  for  travel,  as  in 
our  State,  under  the  monopoly  system,  under  the  general  law 
system  of  the  State  of  New  York  but  two  cents  per  mile  is 
paid,  and  yet  the  stock  of  the  Harlem,  Hudson  River  and 
New  York  Central  Roads  are  as  favorite  investments  with  the 
capitalist,  who  wishes  to  combine  security  with  profit,  as  is 
that  of  the  Camden  and  Amboy.  In  Pennsylvania  the  people 
are  demanding  a general  railroad  law.  They  are  organizing 


14 


to  resist  the  power  of  the  overshadowing  railroad  corporation 
of  that  State — and  they  will  succeed.  Shall  New  Jersey  be 
the  only  State  which  dares  not  legislate  in  the  interest  of  the 
people?  Shall  we  again  sell  our  birthright  for  a mess  of 
pottage  ? 

There  is  no  impediment  to  the  passage  of  such  a law,  but 
the  resistance  which  the  monopoly  will  make  to  it.  You  will' 
remember  that  they  are  a collossal  power.  That  they  unite 
under  one  influence  the  caifltal  and  the  personel  of  the  follow- 
ing corporations : — The  Camden  and  Ariiboy  Company,  The 
Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal  (company,  The  West  Jersey 
Railroad  Company,  The  New  Jersey  Railroad  and  Transporta- 
tion Company,  The  Salem  Railroad  Company,  The  Camden 
and  Mount  Holly  Railroad  Company,  The  Burlington  and 
Mount  Holly  Railroad  Company,  The  Jamesburg  and  Free- 
hold Railroad  Company,  The  Belvidere  Delaware  Railroad 
Company,  The  Flemington  Railroad  Company,  The  Milville 
and  Glasborough  Railroad  Company,  The  Rocky  Hill  Rail- 
road Company,  the  Milville  and  Cape  May  Railroad  Com- 
pany, The  Perth  Amboy  Railroad  Company,  The  Sea  Shore 
Railroad  Company,  The  Camden  Ferry  Company,  The  Jersey 
City  Ferry  Company,  The  Hoboken  Ferry  Company,  The 
Trenton  Delaware  Bridge  Company,  and  The  Trenton  and 
New  Brunswick  Turnpike  Company.  Their  (‘confederate  or- 
ganizations wield  a capital  of  forty  million  dollars  ($40,000,000). 
They  have  thousands  of  employees  who  are  scattered  through 
almost  every  county  in  the  State ; they  have  never  failed  to 
move  with  united  purpose  when  seeking  to  accomplish  an 
object.  They  never  hesitate  at  the  description  of  means  to  be 
used,  and  they  consider  themselves  invincible  in  the  lobbies  of 
the  Legislature.  All  their  power  will  be  exerted  to  prevent 
the  passage  of  a general  railroad  law,  because,  by  the  passage 
of  such  a law,  they  well  know  they  will  be  compelled  to  deal 


15 


fairly  and  justly  by  the  community  or  witness  the  speedy 
creation  of  one  or  more  rival  roads. 

Now,  in  the  face  of  such  an  opposition,  can  we  procure  the 
passage  of  such  a law  ? We  answer.  Yes  ! Upon  this  ques- 
tion the  people  of  New  Jersey  will  divide  according  to  their 
manhood  and  virtue  on  the  one  side,  and  the  subservient,  the 
corrupt  and  unprincipled  on  the  other.  It  cannot  be  that  a 
people  as  intelligent  as  Jerseymen  proverbially  are,  with  such 
plain  inducements  set  before  them,  and  every  principle  of  right 
to  stimulate  them,  will  neglect  to  combine  in  securing  the 
passage  of  this  measure.  Let  us  constantly  keep  it  before  the 
people  that  their  interest  in  this  question  is  only  to  be  meas- 
ured by  millions  of  dollars.  That  they  have  only  to  combine 
and  manifest  their  power  at  the  ballot  box  to  secure  the  end. 
The  monopoly  will  rely,  in  a large  measure,  as  heretofore, 
upon  corrupting  the  Legislature,  when  chosen,  and  inducing  it 
to  betray  the  public.  Let  us  watch  every  attempt  of  this 
character,  and  woe  to  the  man  who  is  found  a traitor.  Let 
him  be  held  up  to  the  public  scorn  and  indignation,  shunned 
by  the  community  and  loathed  by  all  who  know  him. 

We  say  confidently  then,  fellow-citizens,  that  the  attainment 
of  this  desirable  end  is  entirely  within  your  power.  Carefully 
select  pure  and  sterling  men  to  represent  you  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, or,  if  need  be,  to  fill  the  Executive  chair,  you  will  soon 
have  the  law-making  power  ready  to  respond  cheerfully  to 
the  public  will. 

But,  should  the  monopoly  bailie  us  in  this,  we  can  carry  our 
cause  to  a higher  tribunal,  where  the  voice  of  the  people  will 
be  surely  heard,  and  where  the  gold  of  the  monopoly  will  be 
despised.  By  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  power 
to  regulate  inter-state  commerce  has  been  exclusively  con- 
ferred upon  Congress.  That  body  has  exercised  this  power 
from  the  foundation  of  the  Government  by  supervising  the 


16 


navigation  of  the  rivers  within  our  boundary.  More  recently 
it  has  prescribed  rules  for  the  regulation  of  all  trade  upon  the 
inland  waters,  carried  on  by  means  of  vessels  propelled  by 
steam,  and  more  recently  still  it  has  entered  upon  legislation, 
prescribing  rules  for  that  commerce  when  moved  on  land  by 
means  of  steam  power.  No  sound  distinction  can  be  drawn 
between  the  powers  to  regulate  upon  the  land  and  upon  the 
water.  It  is  clear  then  that  this  power  resides  in  Congress, 
and  that  the  obstructions  heretofore  and  at  present  placed  by 
the  Camden  and  Amboy,  as  barriers  to  inter-state  commerce, 
are  of  sufficient  national  importance  to  call  for  Congressional 
action.  They  can  charter  an  air-line  road,  and  thus  place 
Washington  within  five  (5)  hours  of  New  York.  They  can 
declare  the  Raritan  Bay  and  Camden  and  Atlantic  Roads 
lawful  structures  and  competent  to  transport  through  passen- 
gers and  merchandise.  They  can  authorize  the  Central  Rail- 
road of  New  Jersey  to  make  a spur  from  Bound  Brook  to  the 
Delaware  River,  and  establish  it  as  a post  route.  They  can 
authorize  military  roads  wherever,  in  their  sound  discretion, 
they  are  required.  They  can  regulate  the  rates  of  travel, 
within  reasonable  limits,  throughout  the  country.  In  a word, 
the  power  to  regulate  inter-state  commerce  is  one  of  vast 
scope,  equal  to  the  overturning  of  all  local  monopolies  and  the 
deliverance  of  the  people  from  the  evils  of  the  grasping  selfish- 
ness of  corporations.  The  granting  of  this  power  to  Congress 
was  one  of  the  great  necessities  out  of  which  arose  the  Federal 
Government.  Under  the  old  articles  of  Confederation,  the 
disposition  of  the  several  States  to  vex  each  other  with  partial 
regulations  touching  their  commercial  intercourse,  and  the 
damaging  effect  of  this  disposition  upon  the  trade,  made  it 
manifest  to  every  patriotic  mind  that  this  power  must  be  sur- 
rendered by  the  States  to  the  Federal  Government,  if  a har- 
monious union  was  to  be  obtained.  It  was  so  surrendered, 


17 


New  Jersey  being  the  first  State  to  move  in  that  direction, 
and  it  does  not  lie  in  the  power  of  New  Jersey  now  to  resume 
that  with  which  she  has  thus  parted. 

We  are  aware  that  a high  Court  in  our  State  has  placed 
itself  in  a doubtful  position  upon  this  question.  In  a case  in 
which  the  monopoly  was  not  interested,  it  decided  by  a unani- 
mous voice  that  the  State  had  not  the  power  to  burden  inter- 
state commerce  passing  across  her  territory.  That  the  sole  power 
to  regulate  that  commerce  was  in  Congress,  and  that  any  legis- 
lation on  the  part  of  the  State,  tending  clearly  to  that  end, 
was  unconstitutional  and  void.  And  the  same  high  Court,  in  a 
more  recent  decision,  where  the  monoply  was  directly  inter- 
ested, decided  by  a divided  vote  that  the  burdens  imposed 
upon  inter-state  commerce  by  that  legislation,  which  saddled 
upon  it  an  enormous  and  unscrupulous  monopoly,  with  power 
to  tax  it  one  hundred  per  cent,  above  legitimate  charges,  it 
paying  a tithe  of  its  plunder  into  the  treasury  of  the  State, 
were  entirely  constitutional  and  were  in  no  way  afiected  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  the  same  high 
tribunal,  by  an  obiter  dictnm  in  the  same  case,  doubted  the 
power  of  Congress  to  afibrd  to  the  people  of  this  State  and  the 
commerce  of  the  Union  any  relief  whatever  from  these  extor- 
tions. We  do  not  agree  with  this  latter  decision  of  the  Court. 
We  know  the  influences  which  surround  it.  Its  reasoning  is 
not  satisfactory  ; and  looking  elsewhere  for  judicial  light  we 
find  that  the  Courts  of  the  United  States,  removed  from  all 
local  influences,  and  viewing  the  question  from  a national 
point  of  view,  have  already  uttered  opinions  diametrically  the 
reverse  of  that  held  by  the  New  Jersey  Court.  Judge  Miller, 
of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  Iowa,  in  deliver- 
ing the  opinion  of  that  Court  in  a hotly  contested  case,  thus 
emphatically  pronounces  the  law : 

“ Another  means  of  transportation  equal  in  importance  to 


18 


the  steamboat  has  also  come  into  existence  since  the  constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  a means  by  which  merchandise  is  trans- 
ported across  the  States  and  Kingdoms  in  the  same  vehicle  in 
which  it  started.  The  railroad  now  shares  with  the  steamboat 
the  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade.  The  one  has  with  great 
benefit  been  subjected  to  the  control  of  the  salutary  Congres- 
sional legislation  because  it  is  an  instrument  of  commerce.  Is 
there  any  reason  why  the  other  should  not  ? However  this 
question  may  be  answered  in  regard  to  that  commerce  which 
is  conducted  wholly  within  the  limits  of  a State,  and  is  there- 
fore neither  foreign  commerce  nor  commerce  among  the  States, 
it  seems  to  me  that  when  these  roads  become  parts  of  great 
highways  of  our  Union,  transporting  a commerce  which  em- 
braces many  States,  and  destined,  as  some  of  these  roads  are, 
to  become  the  channels  through  which  the  nations  of  Europe 
and  Asia  shall  interchange  their  commodities,  there  can  be  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  to  regulate  them  is  to  regulate  commerce 
both  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  States,  and  that  to 
refuse  to  do  this  is  a refusal  to  discharge  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant duties  of  the  Federal  Government.  As  already  inti- 
mated the  shackles  with  which  the  different  States  fettered 
commerce  in  their  selfish  efforts  to  benefit  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  their  confederates,  was  one  of  the  main  causes 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  our  present  Constitution.  The 
wonderful  growth  of  that  commerce  since  it  has  been  placed 
exclusively  under  the  control  of  the  Federal  Government,  has 
justified  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers.  But  are  we  to  remit 
the  most  valuable  part  of  that  commerce  again  to  the  control 
of  the  States,  and  to  all  the  consequent  vexations  and  burdens 
which  the  States  may  impose,  through  whose  territories  it 
must  be  carried  on  ? And  must  all  this  be  permitted  because 
the  carrying  is  done  by  a method  not  thought  of  when  the 
Constitution  was  framed  ? 


19 


“ For  myself  I must  say  that  I have  no  doubt  of  the  right  of 
Congress  to  prescribe  all  needful  and  proper  regulations  for 
the  conduct  of  this  immense  traffic  over  any  railroad  which 
has  voluntarily  become  part  of  one  of  those  lines  of  inter-state 
communication,  or  to  authorize  the  creation  of  such  roads 
where  the  purposes  of  inter-state  transportation  of  persons  and 
property  justif  y or  requ  ire 

We  believe  this  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and 
failing  in  our  efforts  to  obtain  redress  by  State  legislation,  we 
shall  invoke  the  aid  of  Congress,  and  never  cease  our  efforts 
until  we  are  heard. 

People  of  New  Jersey  ! We  earnestly  appeal  to  you  to 
unite  as  one  man  in  this  great  cause.  Throw  aside  all  petty 
differences  which  may  prevent  your  united  action.  In  this 
question  is  involved  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  in  New 
Jersey.  Shall  we  rule,  or  shall  a corporation  rule  us?  Shall 
New  Jersey  be  the  only  State  that  perpetuates  bondage?  If 
we  succeed  in  this  we  become  the  masters  of  our  own  desti- 
nies. Our  halls  of  Legislature  will  regain  their  ancient  purity. 
Our  Courts  will  utter  independent  opinions,  based  upon  un- 
doubted law,  without  fear  of  accountability  to  a malign  power. 
We  open  to  every  citizen  the  best  market  on  the  continent. 
We  take  from  his  shoulders  a burden  of  taxation.  We  double 
and  triple  the  value  of  his  lands,  and  secure  to  him  and  to  his 
children  prosperity  and  the  blessings  of  freedom  forever. 

Resolved.  That  we  hail  with  joy  the  opening  of  the  year 
during  which  the  monopoly  compact  between  the  State  and 
joint  companies  expires  by  its  own  limitation;  and  we 
join  with  every  patriotic  Jerseyman  in  congratulations  that 
the  years  of  our  oppression  are  nearly  passed,  and  the  day  of 
our  deliverance  is  at  hand. 

Resolved.,  That  while  the  people  of  the  State  have  kept  their 
plighted  faith,  contracted  in  an  evil  hour  with  the  monopoly, 


20 


for  more  than  thirty  years,  that  corporation  in  return  has  op- 
pressed the  whole  business  community  by  its  exorbitant  charges 
and  inadequate  appliances ; has  grossly  and  habitually  inter- 
meddled in  politics;  has  tampered  with  juries,  biassed  the 
courts  and  corrupted  the  legislature,  until,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Union,  injustice  and  wrong  are 
synonymous  with  that  of  “ the  State  of  Camden  and  Amboy.'''' 

Resolved.^  That  in  a mere  pecuniary  point  of  view  it  can 
readily  be  proved,  that  by  her  disastrous  bargain  with  Cam- 
den and  Amboy,  the  State  has  lost  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  of  revenue  and  tens  of  millions  of  dollars  in  values 
by  the  impossibility  for  property  to  appreciate  as  it  would 
have  done  under  a free  railroad  system. 

Resolved,  That  with  the  proximity  of  New  Jersey  to  New 
York  city,  the  great  central  point  of  emigration,  it  is  plain 
that  one  million  acres  of  uncultivated  lands  now  lying  waste 
within  our  borders  would  be  speedily  settled  by  an  industrious 
and  thrifty  population  and  made  productive  to  the  amount  of 
millions  of  dollars  annually,  were  the  barriers  interposed  by 
the  monopoly  removed,  and  the  blessings  of  a General  Rail- 
road Law  secured  to  us. 

Resolved,  That  we  hear  with  alarm  and  contempt  the  giv- 
ings-out  of  the  creatures  of  the  monopoly  that,  although  its 
legal  character  is  about  to  expire,  it  can  and  will  hold  the 
same  exclusive  privileges  by  so  controlling  the  elections  and 
the  legislature  with  its  money  as  to  forever  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  any  law  authorizing  the  creation  of  any  rival  road 
across  the  State,  and  we  call  upon  all  Jerseymen,  of  every 
political  party,  to  rally  as  one  man  against  this  common 
enemy.  Tho  right  to  make  or  to  forbid  the  making  of  laws 
for  ourselves  and  our  children  has  never  been  conferred  upon 
Camden  and  Amboy,  and  they  must  no  longer  exercise  it. 

Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathise  with  the  people  of  the 


21 


counties  of  Monmouth,  Ocean,  Atlantic,  Camden  and  parts  of 
Burlington,  Salem  and  Cape  May  for  the  great  wrong  done  them, 
in  the  recent  outrage  committed  in  the  name  and  by  the  means 
of  the  monopoly  upon  them,  by  which  their  property  is  de- 
pressed  in  value,  their  labor  rendered  unproductive,  their  per- 
ishable produce  left  to  rot  without  a market  and  their  section 
of  the  State,  for  which  nature  has  done  so  much,  thrown  back 
at  least  a quarter  of  a century  in  the  race  of  progress  and 
prosperity ; and  we  counsel  them,  laying  aside  all  differences, 
to  unite  as  one  man  to  vindicate  their  rights  at  the  ballot-box, 
assured  that  such  a union  will  lead  to  victory. 

Resolved^  That  we  hold  railroads  to  be  the  main  channels 
of  inter-state  commerce,  and  that  the  power  to  regulate  that 
commerce,  has  been,  by  the  States,  conferred  exclusively  upon 
the  Federal  Grorernrnent^  so  that  no  State  can  constitutionally 
impose  any  tax  or  other  burden,  whether  directly  by  its 
officers,  or  indirectly,  but  more  oppressively  by  a corporate 
monopoly,  upon  the  free  transit  of  passengers  and  merchandise 
across  such  State,  by  any  existing  mode  of  conveyance  what- 
ever, and  that  all  legislation  tending  to  forbid  other  railroads  , 
from  carrying  between  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  or  com- 
pelling the  exclusive  use  of  the  Camden  and  Amboy  roads  is 
unconstitutional  and  void. 

Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  most  earnestly  to  exercise  the  power  to  regulate  inter- 
state commerce  by  railroads,  as  conferred  upon  them  by  the 
Constitution,  so  that  the  burdens,  inequalities,  vexations,  hin- 
drances, injustice  and  extortions  which  now  exist  may  be 
removed. 

Resolved,  That  we  cordially  agree  with  the  high  Court  of 
Errors  of  our  State  in  their  learned  decision  in  the  Erie  case, 
that  the  taxation  of  transportation  across  the  State  “ must  of 
necessity  be  a regulation  of  commerce  within  the  prohibitory 


22 


clause  of  the  Constitution  — that  for  a State  to  exercise  its 
law-making  prerogative,  “ either  so  far  as  to  burden  such 
transportation,  or  to  prevent  it  altogether,  is  a regulation  of 
commerce  which  falls  under  the  prohibition  of  the  Constitu^ 
tion  of  the  United  States and  that  we  as  cordially  and 
entirely  disagree  with  the  same  High  Court  of  Errors  in  their 
very  labored,  but  very  illogical  and  transparently  partial 
opinion  in  the  recent  Camden  and  Amboy  case,  “ that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  any  legal  impediment  within  the  power  of 
other  States,  or  of  the  United  States,  which  could  be  inter- 
posed so  as  to  prevent  this  State,  in  the  exercise  of  her  plea- 
sure, from  closing  up  or  prohibiting  the  use  of  any  highway 
within  her  domain.” 

Resolved^  That  in  all  matters  respecting  the  regulation  of 
inter-state  commerce,  the  transit  of  passengers  and  goods  from 
one  State  to  another,  the  transit  of  troops  and  munitions  of 
war,  and  the  transit  of  the  United  States  mails,  the  legislation 
of  Congress  is  supreme^  the  laws  of  any  State,  or  the  decision 
of  any  State  Courts,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Resolved,  That  now  that  state  faith  cannot  be  allowed  to 
stand  in  the  way,  we  ask  of  our  representatives  in  the  legisla- 
ture the  passage  of  a liberal  General  Railroad  Laio,  under 
which  every  section  of  the  State  can  have  whatever  railroads 
their  people  wish  to  build,  every  farmer  and  manufacturer  can 
choose  his  own  market,  every  land-owner  can  make  his  lands 
saleable,  a system  which  will  speedily  double  the  production 
of  the  State,  and  largely  increase  her  wealth  and  population. 

Resolved,  That  we  this  day  proceed  to  organize  a general 
railroad  or  anti-monopoly  party,  whose  platform  shall  consist 
of  two  planks,  to  advocate  the  passage  of  a general  railroad 
law,  and  to  oppose  the  grayiting  or  continuing  of  any  exclu- 
sive privileges  or  immunities  to  any  corporatioii  within  the 


23 


■limits  or  jurisdiction  of  New  Jersey  ; and  upon  this  line,  in  the 
language  of  the  greatest  general  of  the  age,  “ we  will  fight  it 
out,”  until  success  shall  attend  our  united  efforts  at  the  ballot 
boxes. 

Resolved^  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  signed 
by  the  officers  thereof,  and  that  the  secretary  cause  copies  to 
be  presented  to  the  Governor,  and  to  each  of  the  members  of 
the  State  Senate  and  General  Assembly,  and  that  he  send 
copies  also  to  each  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress  from  this  State,  with  the  request  that  they  lay  the 
same  before  the  respective  bodies  of  which  they  are  members. 

Resolved^  That  the  chairman  appoint  a State  Executive 
Committee,  of  three  (3)  from  each  Congressional  District  in 
the  State  and  five  (5)  from  the  County  of  Essex,  of 

whom  shall  constitute  a quorum,  who  shall  hold  their  first 
meeting  at  the  call  of  their  chairman,  in  the  City  of  Newark, 
and  meet  thereafter  upon  their  own  adjournment,  whose  busi- 
ness it  shall  be  to  devise  and  build  up  an  organization, 
irrespective  of  the  now  existing  political  parties,  and  who  shall 
be  further  charged  with  the  duty  of  calling  a State  Conven- 
tion of  all  the  friends  and  supporters  of  a General  Railroad 
Law^  to  assemble  at  some  time  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
present  Legislature,  to  consider  and  determine  what  nomina- 
tions shall  be  made  and  what  steps  taken  to  secure  our  success 
in  the  ensuing  State  elections. 

Resolved^  That  the  committee  be  instructed  to  have  pre- 
pared forthwith,  and  laid  before  the  Legislature  for  their  action, 
a liberal  general  railroad  law,  and  upon  the  presentation  of 
such  bill  to  the  Legislature,  that  they  have  copies  of  it  printed 
and  sent  to  the  friends  of  the  measure  in  every  county  in  the 
State  with  a request  that  they  call  public  meetings  and  invite 


24 


the  people  to  instruct  their  Senators  and  Representatives  to 
vote  for  the  measure. 

Resolved,  That  memorials  to  the  Legislatvire,  praying  for 
the  passage  of  a general  railroad  law,  be  circulated  by  the 
executive  committee  throughout  the  State  for  the  signatures  of 
such  as  are  friendly  to  the  measure. 


To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey : 

The  following  is  a form  of  Memorial  to  the  Legislature,  praying  for  the 
passage  of  a General  Railroad  Law.  Copy  this  form  upon  a sheet  of  paper, 
get  all  the  signatures  you  can,  and  then  send  it  to  one  of  the  members  in 
the  Legislature  representing  your  county,  to  be  presented  to  that  body. " The 
people  are  going  into  this  movement  as  a Committee  of  the  Whole  : 

MEMOBIAL. 

7o  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  New  Jersey  : 

The  undersigned,  citizens  of  the  County  of 

in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  respectfully  request  the  passage 
of  a General  Railroad  Law  for  the  said  State,  similar  to 
such  general  law  in  existence  in  other  States,  by  which  the 
people  will  be  enabled  to  build  railroads  for  their  benefit  in 
every  section  of  the  State  where  they  may  need  or  desire 
them. 


